Sharpening device for razor blades



Aug. 13, 1935. R. P. HARsHBr-:RGER

SHARPENING DEVICE FOR RAZOR BLADES Filed July 13, 1952 Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT orties i SHARPENING DEVICE FOR RAZOR BLADES Russell P. Harshberger, Pasadena, Calif. Application July 13, 1932, Serial No. 622,244 7 Claims.vv (ci. i1- 59) The general ai m of the invention is to provide `a device for sharpening razor blades which is i efficient, is simple in construction, and may be readily assembled whereby the device may be manufactured and sold at a low cost.

An object is to provide a novel sharpening de- `Vice wherein a case, which may be readily held duced by a simple shaking movement on the part of the operator. i

More specifically stated, another object is` to provide sharpening means in the form of opposed rollers between which the edge of the blade is receivable, said rollers being mounted foraxial reciprocation` along the blade'- in responseto a reciprocatory movement imparted to the device by the operator, and including means for rotating the rollers which is actuated by the aforesaid operators movement.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following description and from the accompanying drawing, in which;

Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the interior of the device, the forward wall of the casing being cut away.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the device.

Figs. 4 and 5 are side and face views respectively of one form of roller rotating means.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawing and will herein describe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend'to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.`

In the drawing, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown merely for the purpose of illustrating the invention, I0 designates generally a substantially closed case dimensioned to be readily grasped and held in an operators hand. The case as shown is preferably sectional and comprises; a lower somewhat dishshaped section II and two complementary upper sections I2, I2a providing a cover. The upper sections are each pivoted, as at I3, to the end walls of the lower section near the side walls thereof for swinging movement on longitudinai 5 axis whereby the upper sections may each swing outwardly to open the casing. n

The lower section I I has mounted therein a pair of longitudinally exten-ding rollers Eli, I5 which are formed of some suitable material, such as 10 leather, fibre, or a phenol condensation product, and constitute sharpening means. The rollers are supported by shafts I6 journaled in the end walls of the section. Each of the upper sections I2, I2a carries a similar roller II, I8 disposed 15 above a corresponding lower roller It, I5 respectively to provide complementary pairs of sharpening devices I4,` II and I5, I8. The upper rollers Y are journaled in the end walls of the upper sections I2, I2a on shafts I9. 20

The axes of the rollers I4, I5 and II, I8 are spaced transversely apart a slightly greater distance than the width of a blade (see Fig. 3) so 'that the rollers may engage the edge of the blade along the bevel thereof. Each roller is 25 fashioned with alternating ribs 20 and grooves 2I so arranged that the ribs and grooves in the pairs of upper and lower rollers are complementary, thereby permitting these rollers to overlap slightly to insure that the opposite sides of 30 an edge will be simultaneously engaged.

In this embodiment, the lower section is provided With means for supporting a blade during the sharpening thereof. To this end a pair of longitudinally spaced outwardly extending pins 22 are suitably Xed tothe base and are properly spaced and dimensioned to fit the apertures provided in certain types of blades. While only two pins are shown herein, it will be understood that the holding means may be modied to accommo 40 date types of blades other than that shown atV A in Fig. l. It should be noted that the pins are of sufficient length to engage the upper sections I2, 52a when closed properly to limit the closing movement thereof. It is preferred that the jour-- nals for the upper rollers be elongated, as shown at V23 (Fig. 3) on the line of the upper and lower rollers so that the upper rollers are free for limited movement toward and away from the lower rollers. Thus, the weight of the rollers will 50 rest, in operation, upon the edges of the blade.

The sharpening action is effected by producing a relative movement between the blade and the sharpening devices upon a movement of the case by the user. ,In this instance, the sharpen- Cil ing devices are caused to move along the edges of the blade and are also given a rotary motion. As shown in Fig. l, the rollers are substantially shorter than the case. Consequently, ii the operator reciprocates the case, the rollers slide axially on their shafts l, I9 and the sharpening surfaces of the rollers move along theedges of the blade in contact therewith.

Rotary movement is suitably imparted by mounting at each end of each roller, a resilient means which upon engagement with a case wall acts to rotate the associated roller. As shown in Figs. Il and 5 one form oi resilient means comprises a tubular member 2d of rubber or the like adapted to encircle the shafts l5, iii and to nt partially into axial sockets 25 (Figs. l and 2) formed in the ends of each roller. Each tubular member 2d has one or more (in this` instance two) projections 2@ extending therefrom along the axis. These projections are preferably pointed and, as shown in Fig. 2, are slightly tilted or spiraled. The projections 2li upon engagement with the end walls of the case as the rollers reciprocate, are bent down by the impact and, because of the tilted or spiral formation, impart a torsional force to rotate the shafts i6, i9 and the associated rollers.

A honing action on the blade is eiiected by arranging the members Nl and projections 2B so that the direction of rotation produced thereby is away from the blade at the point of contact of a roller therewith. As illustrated, the rollers ld, it have a counterclockwise movement while the rollers l5, il' are driven in a clockwise direction.

t will be evident from the foregoing that a novel device has been provided which is simple and compact. The operator needs but to swing back the upper case sections, insert a blade, close the sections and shake or reciprocate the case in his hand a few times. Such movement causes the sharpening devices to move relative to the blade, both along the edge thereof and with a honing action away from the edge. As a result, the blade is quickly and efciently sharpened.

claim as my invention:

l. A sharpening device for razor blades comprising, in combination, a lower casing section, two longitudinally opposedupper sections pivoted tofsaid lower section for opening movement relative thereto, a pair oi sharpening rollers having alternating ribs and grooves therein journaled in the lower section, said rollers being spaced apart transversely a slightly greater distance than the width of a blade, pins on said lower section intermediate said rollers for engaging and holding a blade against movement, a second pair of sharpening rollers journaled one each in the upper sections in alinement with a lower roller, said second pair of rollers having limited movement toward and away irom the corresponding lower rollers and having alternating ribs and grooves opposed to the grooves and ribs in said corresponding lower rollers, said rollers being shorter than the casing and supported for axial reciprocatory movement along the blade in response to a reciprocating shaking movement imparted to the casing by an operator, and resilient means carried at the end of each roller for engagement with a casing wall as the rollers reciprocate, said resilient means being rashioned to impart rotary movement to the rollers in directions which are outward of the blade at the points or" engagement.

2. A sharpening device for razor blades comprising, in combination, a lower casing section, two longitudinally opposed upper sections pivoted to said lower section for opening movement relative thereto, a pair of sharpening rollers journaled in the lower section, means for engaging and holding a blade against movement, a second pair of sharpening rollers journaled one each in the upper sections in alinernent with a lower roller, said second pair of rollers having limited movement toward and away from the corresponding lower rollers, said rollers being shorter than the casing and supported for axial reciprocatory movement along the blade in response to a reciprocating shaking movement imparted to the casing by an operator, and resilient means carried at the end of each roller for engagement with a casing wall as the rollers reciprocate, said resilient means being fashioned to impart rotary movement to the rollers.

3. A sharpening device for razor blades comprising, in combination, a lower casing section,

two longitudinally opposed upper sections pivoted to said lower section for opening movement relative thereto, a pair of sharpening rollers jour'- naled in the lower section, means for engaging and Yholding a blade against movement, a second pair of sharpening rollers journaled one each in the upper sections in alinement with a lower roller, said second pair of rollers having limited movement toward and away from the corresponding lower rollers, said rollers being shorter than the casing and supported for axial reciprocatory movement along the blade in response to a reciprocating shaking movement imparted to the casing by an operator, and means operated by the shaking movement for rotating said rollers.

4. A sharpening device for razor blades comprising, in combination, a lower casing section, two longitudinally opposed upper sections pivoted to said lower section for opening movement relative thereto, a pair of sharpening rollers journaled in the lower section, means for engaging and holding a blade against movement, a second pair of sharpening rollers journaled one each in the upper sections in alinement'with a lower roller, said second pair of rollers having limited movement toward and away from the corresponding lower rollers, said rollers being shorter than the casing, and means for supporting said rollers for axial reciprocatory movement along the blade in response to a reciprocating shaking movement imparted to the casing by an operator.

5. A sharpening device for razor blades com prising, in combination, a relatively light-weight case adapted to be held in a users hand for reciprocatory movement, four spaced rollers journaled in the case for reciprocatory movement as the case is moved by the user, said rollers being arranged in cooperative pairs adapted to operatively engage opposite sides of the edges of a double edged blade, and means for rotating said rollers during at least a part of the reciprocatory movement thereof.

6. A sharpening device for razor blades of the safety razor type comprising, in combination, a light weight case adapted to be held in a users hand while reciprocatory movement is imparted thereto by shaking, said case comprising separable and hingedly connected sections, blade supporting means stationary with respect to one section of said case, sharpening rollers journalled in the case sections and arranged to be cooperatively related in pairs for engagement with opposite sides of a blade edge when the case is closed, and means for supporting said rollers for rotational movement and for axial reciprocatory movement when the case is reciprocated by shaking, said means in one case section being arranged to confine the associated rollers to movement substantially on a xed axis, and said means in the other case section being arranged to permit of limited shifting movement of the rollers associated therewith toward and away from the cooperating xed axis rollers.V

7. A razor blade sharpening device comprising, in combination, a sectional case adapted to be reciprocated in the users hand by a shaking movement and having means for hingedly conneoting the case sections for opening and closing movement, means in said case for engaging and holding a blade to be sharpened stationary substantially on a plane between said case sections,

sharpening means having small stub shafts at opposite ends thereof, one of said case sections having opposed apertures therein for snugly receiving the stub shafts on one of said sharpening means to support said means in blade edge engaging position for reciprocatory movement on the axial line of said means, and the opposed case section having apertures therein to receiverthe stub shafts on a sharpening means and to support said means for axial reciprocatory movement, said last-mentioned apertures being elongated to permit movement of the associated sharpening means toward and away from the rst-mentioned sharpening means and a blade edge interposed therebetween.

RUSSELL P, HARSHBERGER. 

